Central Perk

luni, 14 februarie 2011

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

Getting SEO Value From Your Affiliate Links

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 01:19 PM PST

There are various industries online where traffic and revenue from affiliate programs is a huge part of the overall revenue stream. If you work in one of these industries (gambling for example) then you may have the opportunity of optimising the affiliate program to get more value from an SEO point of view. In this post I'm going to outline some of the techniques you can use along with the advantages and potential risks of both.

I want to very briefly cover why some of these techniques may carry some risk. Google has traditionally sought to not pass value across links that appear to be affiliate based. I searched high and low for some official Google Webmaster Guidelines on affiliate links, all I found was this page which talks more about content rather than links. However I did find the following quote from an interview that Eric Enge did with Matt Cutts:

Eric Enge: If Googlebot sees an affiliate link out there, does it treat that link as an endorsement or an ad?

Matt Cutts: Typically, we want to handle those sorts of links appropriately. A lot of the time, that means that the link is essentially driving people for money, so we usually would not count those as an endorsement.

I think the gist is that the website has only put the link in place because they are getting some financial reward for doing so. ie they get paid a commission if someone uses the link and then buys a product etc. Therefore, Google doesn't like to count them as editorially given links.

There are various arguments that can be had as to whether affiliate links should be counted or not, but thats not the point of this post. All you need to know really is that Google doesn't tend to count affiliate links as editorally given, therefore you need to be careful how you use and optimise them.

Here are some ideas for you to optimise your own affiliate program to try and get some SEO benefit from the links.

1) Use of a Dedicated Landing Page for Big Affiliates

I quite like this technique. The principle is that you look at who your biggest affiliates are in terms of SEO value, as well as traffic. Then you create a dedicated landing page on your domain for that affiliate to use. You can even do this so that they can still link to their own versions of deep pages such as categories or product pages.

For example, if the SEOmoz affiliate program were to do this, a landing page to PRO could look like -

www.seomoz.org/pro/paddy

This URL would look exactly the same as the URL would if it didn't have /paddy on the end. So for the user, they wouldn't notice anything different and would have the same experience.

To stop the problem of having loads of duplicate content pages, you can make use of the rel=canonical tag. So on the URL www.seomoz.org/pro/paddy, I'd implement the rel=canonical which points to www.seomoz.org/pro. If you are unfamilar with rel=canonical then you should read this guide from Lindsay.

By doing this, you are telling Google that the /paddy page is a duplicate on the /pro page. therefore don't index it and pass any links or authority to the /pro page. It should also stop the /paddy page from showing in search results.

As mentioned above, I'd say to do this for your larger affiliates, mainly because it can be a tricky process to get setup. However if you have a good developer who has some time to spend on this, you could potentially roll it out across your entire affiliate network.

2) Make Sure Affiliates Link to the Correct Page

We saw a case recently of a large client in a competitive industry having their own in house affiliate program. However the program had been running for quite some time. In that time the client website had undergone a few changes in terms of URL structure, so some affiliates were linking to old URLs.

Most of the time this isn't a problem if the appropriate redirects have been put in place. Unfortunately, the client site had been through more than one change of URL structure, and on one of these changes, redirects were not implemented correctly. Here is how some affiliates were linking to the client -

Affiliate links to - www.client.com/category-name/

302 redirect to www.client.com/keyword-category-name/

301 redirect to www.client.com/optimsed-keyword-category-name/

See where the problem lies here? That pesky 302 is stopping link juice from being passed to the new version of the URL. This is a common problem when multiple developers and SEO agencies work on the same site over a period of time. The first set of URL changes meant that a 302 redirect was used instead of a 301. Then when an SEO agency came along to make the URLs optimised for keywords, they use a 301, unaware that previous work had been carried out.

We ran some analysis and found around 600 links going to old client URLs that were not redirecting properly, all of these were from affiliates who were pretty easy to contact and get to fix the problem.

The client was unaware that older affiliates were still linking to the very first version of the URL which went through several redirects, one of which being a 302 that meant that value was not being passed. So our advice was two fold -

1 - Change the 302 redirect to a 301 in order to pass value to the latest version of the page

2 - Contact all affiliates and ask them to update their links to the latest version of the URL. Some affiliates may not want to go to the effort of doing this, however you should point out that linking to a paid that goes via multiple redirects like this, could sometimes strip off their tracking code and not credit them for sales. They'll soon change the links!

3) Help your Affiliates Make Their Content More Valuable (and get links!)

A few weeks ago I wrote a Distilled blog post about getting more SEO value from your YouTube videos. If you take a look at this article, it tells you a way to get clean backlinks by getting people to embed your YouTube videos. If you have videos available to you, it is worthwhile adding clean links and encouraging your affiliates to embed the videos on their website. This has three benefits -

1 - Your affiliates are adding more value to their own sites by having relevant, helpful videos on their site, therefore potentially increasing the click through rate to your site

2 - Embedding these videos will help the overall strength of your YouTube channel

3 - You get a nice additional link to your website

As an added incentive, you could even slightly increase commission for affiliates who embed your videos. This can help to get things kick started.

The end result will hopefully be something like this:

Video by ParryGripp

Ok, I really just wanted an excuse to put a video of a baby monkey going backwards on a pig on the blog :) But the point is that you can add a nice clean link underneath your video.

4) Add More Value to Widgets and Iframes That Affiliates Use

I worked with a client recently who was looking to get a bit more benefit from their affiliate program. They are in a super competitive industry and had tons of affiliate links, so just a small change to this could result in higher click throughs and more revenue. The long term SEO benefit was also a big factor.

This client had embeddable chunks of content that were pulled in dynamically using an iframe. Links within the iframe couldn't be seen by the search engines, nor could they see the content, so there was no SEO value at all. A solution was to add a HTML wrapper around the iframe which contained a link to the client and the affiliate could also add some content which the search engines would see. Again, there are several benefits to this approach -

1 - You're adding value to the affiliate site by allowing for the option of adding content which the search engines and users can see

2 - You're getting an additional link back to your website

Hopefully this has been useful and given you some food for thought when optimising your own affiliate programs. Any feedback or ideas you have, as always feel free to drop a comment below!

Do you like this post? Yes No

Seth's Blog : An acre of attitudes

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

An acre of attitudes

Anne Lamott relates an image from a friend in her great book on writing, Bird by Bird. My version:

Everyone is given an acre of attitudes at birth. It's yours to tend and garden and weed and live with. You can plant bitterness or good humor. Feel free to fertilize and tend the feelings and approaches that you want to spend time with. Unless you hurt someone, this acre is all yours.

Probably worth putting up a decent fence, so that only the attitudes that you choose will have a chance to put down seeds, but it's certainly a bad idea to put up a wall, because a walled garden is no good to anyone passing by. You get to decide what comes through your fence gate, right?

Watching out for invasive species—spending sufficient time on weeding and pruning and staking seem to be incredibly powerful tools for accomplishing the life you want. I refuse to accept that an attitude is an accident of birth or an unchangeable constant. That would be truly horrible to contemplate.

Happy Valentine's Day. Good luck with your garden.

• Email to a friend •

•

White House White Board: The President's Budget

Your Daily Snapshot for
Monday, Feb. 14, 2011

White House White Board: The President's Budget

In this White House White Board, Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, explains how the President's Budget will help the government live within its means, while still investing in America's future. Tune in to WhiteHouse.gov/live at 10:20 a.m EST to watch the President discuss key buget priorities.

Watch the video.

Seth's Blog : Treating best customers better

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Treating best customers better

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the way you treat your best customers is a fork in the road. You either treat them better or worse than everyone else.

To launch my first book with Amazon and the Domino Project, we're trying a neat experiment that rewards our biggest fans.

We're going to set the launch price of the Kindle edition (which is also readable on any computer or iPad) based on the number of people who subscribe to our free newsletter. It started at $9.99 and we've already lowered it two dollars.

For every 5,000 people who sign up for the newsletter this week, we're going to lower the price of the ebook a dollar, until (we hope) we reach a dollar. On the 21st of February, all our subscribers will get a link to the URL that lets them pre-order the Kindle edition at a reduced price until the official publication date.

You get it first and you get it for less.

Details are here... Thanks for being a best customer.

[It's sort of a twist on Kickstarter. In the case of that site, the creator says, "if enough people put in some money, I'll be able to make something." In this case, I'm saying, "If enough people put in some attention, I'll be able to bring you something on a regular basis." Once again, attention is truly valuable.]

• Email to a friend •

•

duminică, 13 februarie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Irish Bailout Falls Short; Irish Debt Rating Cut to Junk by Moody’s; Power of the "Trump Card"
German ex-Finance-Minister Bows Out of ECB President Race; Still More Goldman Sachs Tentacles
Former Sun CEO on Jobs: "We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia"

Irish Bailout Falls Short; Irish Debt Rating Cut to Junk by Moody’s; Power of the "Trump Card"

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 04:09 PM PST

In the wake of the collapse of the Irish government, finance minister Brian Lenihan suspended capital injections for Allied Irish Bank, the Bank of Ireland, and EBS Building society until elections are held on February 25.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Anglo Irish Bank will not get another cent if his party is elected. However, the Chairman of Anglo Irish Bank said Anglo needs another €15bn.

In response, Irish Debt Rating Cut to Junk by Moody's

Moody's cut the ratings of Irish banks to junk status on Friday following Dublin's decision to defer previously agreed capital increases until after this month's general election.

This follows similar action by Standard & Poor's last week.

Moody's said recent announcements "call into question the government's willingness to provide additional support to the banks beyond that which has already been provided to date, and reflect the increasing risk of some type of burden-sharing with senior creditors."

Moody's acknowledged the "huge fiscal burden faced by Irish taxpayers" as a result of the banking sector bail-out. But as a result it said there was an "increasing risk that this burden could be shared not only by subordinated creditors but by senior creditors, most likely through distressed exchanges."

Fine Gael stretches lead in Irish election campaign

The Financial Times reports Fine Gael stretches lead in Irish election campaign

Ireland's opposition centre right Fine Gael party has stretched its lead ahead of the February 25 general election with an opinion poll giving it an outside chance of an overall majority.

A poll by Red C for the Sunday Business Post newspaper put Fine Gael on 38 per cent, up 3 points, ahead of Labour on 20 per cent, with the governing Fianna Fail party on 15 per cent.

The most likely outcome is Fine Gael will seek to form a government with Labour, its traditional coalition allies.

But analysts say as a party approaches 40 per cent of the first preference votes under Ireland's complex proportional representation system there is a chance of securing the 83 seats needed for an overall majority in the 166-seat Dail or lower house of parliament.

The latest poll confirms momentum is behind Fine Gael, a party traditionally supported by big farmers and urban professionals and business.

With Fianna Fail blamed for the humiliating bail-out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, and with all the opposition parties pledged to renegotiate the deal, the election campaign has switched to other issues.

The issue that has caught the public's attention is Fine Gael's pledge not to increase taxes just as this month households see their pay packets cut by the tax hikes announced in the December budget.

Michael Noonan, the party's finance spokesman, has attacked Labour as "the high tax party".

Even before the campaign opened, Labour dropped its plan for a 48 per cent top rate of tax, a policy adopted by Sinn Fein, which in the latest poll has seen its support slip from 13 per cent to 10 per cent.

Ireland Should tell IMF and ECB "Go to Hell"

It seems like voters are fed up with taxes everywhere. From this side of the Atlantic I certainly understand a low-tax, renegotiate-the-bailout approach.

I also approve the talk "Anglo Irish Bank will not get another cent". That is exactly the correct starting point.

Thus, Ireland should tell the IMF and EU and especially Jean-Claude Trichet at the ECB where to go, and bondholders can eat 100% of the loss. Whether or not Fine Gael can pull that off remains to be seen.

Irish parties pledge to re-negotiate EU-IMF bailout

The Montreal Gazette reports Irish parties pledge to re-negotiate EU-IMF bailout

As Ireland's election campaign heats up, the prospects of success in a battle to ease the terms of a massive EU-IMF bailout have become a key issue, even as Brussels insists it is non-negotiable.

To a humiliated nation, the opposition parties are holding out the hope that they can re-negotiate the terms of the 85 billion euro ($115 billion) bailout package if they gain power after the February 25 vote.

Candidates are meeting the full force of the hostility to the bailout terms and the question of why taxpayers have to pay for the mistakes of bankers as they canvas door-to-door.

An IMF review last week appeared to recognise there are difficulties, saying that while the public response to the bailout has remained favorable "a lingering domestic perception of inequitable burden sharing persists."

The republican Sinn Fein is offering the most radical solutions for the economy and the bailout, although it has little chance of being elected.

It wants no further drawdown of IMF/EU funding, the reversal of many budget cuts and the "burning" of bondholders who lent to reckless banks whose lending plunged Ireland into economic purgatory.

But Bloxham stockbrokers sounded a warning to politicians on Friday about their anti-European rhetoric.

"Throwing down ultimatums to Brussels and rubbishing 'Frankfurt's way' might win votes... but it could make life difficult for the next government and cement anti-EU sentiment as a potent political force in a country with a history of putting the brakes on EU ambitions," its analysts said in a note.

The stockbroker said that with the interest rate on the IMF's portion of the loan tied to a fixed formula, opposition parties are focusing their ire on the EU, which at Germany's insistence added a three-percent margin on the rate it is charging for 45 billion euros worth of loans.

"However, giving voters false hope about how much Ireland could save from a reduction in the EU bailout interest rate may come back to haunt both parties and hasten a new government's early demise," Bloxham said.

Preposterous IMF Statements

The statement by the IMF that "public response to the bailout has remained favorable" is one of the most preposterous lies I have ever seen.

What's with this nonsense by Bloxham Stockbrokers?

To be sure there is little to be gained by a reduction in interest rates. That's why Ireland should default if the ECB and IMF will not restructure.

Please note who is in control here. It certainly is not the IMF or ECB. All Ireland needs to do is tell Jean-Claude Trichet to "Go to Hell". That would set the appropriate tone for "negotiation".

If Bloxham thinks that will cost votes to any party, they are sadly mistaken.

Irish Bailout Falls Short

The New York Times reports Irish Bailout Hits Snags

Bank Losses Could Outstrip Rescue Funds; Political Threats

On Wednesday, Ireland's departing finance minister postponed an injection of cash into the banks that was planned for the end of February, saying a new government should make the decision. Top opposition officials are far less keen to bolster banks.

While the next government appears eager to get a better bailout deal, talks with its primary funder, the European Union, will be delicate. Other EU countries, particularly France, are keen to extract a pound of flesh by eroding Ireland's low corporate-tax rate. The major Irish parties are united in their zeal to preserve it.

A spokesman for the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, maintained that the deal wasn't up for negotiation. It was "decided with the state of Ireland," Amadeu Altafaj said Friday. "It's not, let's say, a program that has been agreed with a particular government and is subject to changes because of that."

Ireland's main leverage in the talks will be threatening to impose losses on holders of Irish banks' debt. At the insistence of the European Central Bank, which fears such "haircuts" would spook investors and worsen the euro zone's crisis, Ireland's government refrained from such a move last year.

But Fine Gael hopes to use the threat of a "haircut" to extract concessions from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

"The only card we have to play is the bondholders," a senior Fine Gael official said Friday. "If we can't get a better deal … we're going to be left with no options but to restructure the debt of the banks to protect the sovereign."

Anglo Irish Bank's chairman, Alan Dukes, fanned the flames. Speaking that evening at a conference, Mr. Dukes predicted that Ireland's banks need "somewhere in the region of €50 billion of new capital" to absorb their losses. Officials from Ireland's two main political parties said Mr. Dukes was overestimating the carnage.

Moreover, the plan provides just half of the €133.9 billion Ireland would need through 2013 to recapitalize banks, pay its bills and pay back its borrowings, including short-term debt, according to estimates released this past week by the European Commission.

Power of the Trump Card

When you have a trump card, you do not threaten to play it, you simply play it.

Ireland need not pay a "pound of flesh" as the Times suggests. There is no need for Ireland to bargain away its corporate tax structure. After all, if France does not like Ireland's advantage, France is free to change its corporate tax structure.

Agreeing to reduced interest rates in exchange for corporate tax changes would be a horrible deal for Ireland. Its tax rate advantage is its only way to grow out of this hole.

Magic Words

When you have a trump card, the magic word is not "Please". The magic words are "Go to Hell". Unfortunately most politicians are far too polite to say those words. Yet, Jean-Claude Trichet and the IMF need to be put in their place, and those three words will do it nicely.

After that, negotiations would go much more smoothly, with the ECB, the IMF, and Ireland negotiating an appropriate haircut. The alternative for the ECB is a 100% haircut - a simple default.

That is the power of a trump card, and Ireland has it, not the ECB, and not the IMF.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

German ex-Finance-Minister Bows Out of ECB President Race; Still More Goldman Sachs Tentacles

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 11:15 AM PST

Another German contender for ECB President has bowed out of the race. First it was Axel Weber, long thought to be the frontrunner. Now German ex-minister Steinbrueck rules out taking ECB job.

Ex-finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said he was not interested in the role as he shared the same views as outgoing Bundesbank President Axel Weber.

Both men oppose the ECB policy of buying government bonds from countries with high debt levels. Mr Steinbrueck said he would have had a "minority" view at the Bank.

"I am not available for this job," he told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The ECB has been buying risky government bonds if international investors have either shied away from buying government debt, or demanded too high a rate for it.

The bank bought Portuguese government bonds last week after yields rose to record highs in early trading, sparking renewed fears about Portugal's ability to raise money on the international markets.

Yields fell quickly after the ECB's intervention.

We don't want no transfer union

Please consider The Economist article We don't want no transfer union

German behaviour is guided by more than petty politics. In adopting the euro the Germans thought they were joining a condominium, in which every member would keep order on their own property, and not a messy commune. Now the crisis threatens that understanding. The Greek bail-out and the €750 billion ($980 billion) war chest created in May to defend the euro look to many Germans like a violation of the "no-bail-out clause" in the Maastricht treaty that created the euro. The government insists it is not, because the aid is voluntary and temporary. The constitutional court is evaluating this claim. The proposed successor, a permanent facility plus procedures to impose losses on creditors of insolvent countries, needs a treaty revision to pass constitutional muster.

Clearly Weber and Steinbrueck have sent a strong message they expect the Maastricht Treaty to be honored. Current ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet trashed the treaty with support of the rest of the board.

With Weber and Steinbrueck bowing out of the race, Mario Draghi Ex-Goldman Sachs Managing Director is Leading Candidate to Replace Trichet as ECB President.

Goldman Sachs Tentacles Everywhere

Inquiring minds are investigating the career details of Mark Carney governor of the Bank of Canada.

Before joining the Canadian public service, Carney spent thirteen years with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. His progressively more senior positions included co-head of sovereign risk; executive director, emerging debt capital markets; and managing director, investment banking.

Please consider the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors article Mark Carney exempted Goldman Sachs from Flaherty's income trust tax

Flaherty's income trust was structured by Mark Carney in such a way that only the little investor was taxed and the big guys were given a free ride. Not only were the big guys given a free ride, this tax was imposed in such a way that the big guys were able to prey upon the small investor and expropriate wealth from the small investor in the amount of some $35 billion.

What would you expect from the architect of Flaherty's income trust tax, Mark Carney, who spent his entire career at Goldman Sachs and wouldn't have dealt with a single Canadian retail investor in his entire career and evidently doesn't give a hoot about them and probably perceives them as ripe for the picking.

I cannot discuss the merits of that Canadian case because I do not know them. However, it is clear that Goldman Sachs has tentacles slowly infiltrating every nook and cranny, including various Central Banks and the SEC.

SEC Names ex-Goldman Sachs Employee to Oversee Asset Managers and Hedged Funds

While on the subject of ex-Goldman Sachs employees turning up in high-power jobs, please consider SEC Taps Goldman Sachs Executive as Division Head

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Eileen Rominger to head its division overseeing asset managers and hedge funds.

Rominger will come to the SEC after nearly 30 years in the investment management business, according to an SEC press release Tuesday.

She managed equity funds at Oppenheimer Capital and at Goldman before becoming Goldman's chief investment officer for its global portfolio management teams.

As I said a couple days ago, all we need now to complete the picture is for an ex-Goldman employee to run for president of the United States and for another ex-Goldman employee to replace Bernanke at the Fed.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Former Sun CEO on Jobs: "We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia"

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 12:54 AM PST

Scott McNealy, ex-CEO of Sun Microsystems, is concerned about job prospects in Silicon Valley. However, what he has to say applies to jobs in general, not just high technology, and not just in California.

Please consider Former Sun CEO Worries About Region's Prospects

Even as Silicon Valley's unemployment rate eases and many local technology companies post positive financial results, Scott McNealy is pessimistic.

Santa Clara County's jobless rate fell to 10.4% in December from 11.3% a year earlier. But Mr. McNealy, the co-founder and former chief executive of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc., doesn't think Silicon Valley's emerging sectors such as social networking and "green" technology are going to make up for jobs lost as sectors such as software and computers consolidate.

WSJ: When did you see Silicon Valley begin to recover from the recession, and how far along has it come?

Mr. McNealy: It's not a terribly job-filled recovery. Productivity gains continue to push the need to hire out.

I see a migration from the early days of the Valley. We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia and other places where there are lots of technical engineers who are willing to work at a more reasonable salary because they don't have to spend $3.5 million on a home and pay half of it to taxes.

I think every new transition has created less job opportunity as technology has become very leveraged. I don't think our education system, our regulations, our government policies have kept pace with the changes that technology is driving.

Maybe I'm sounding like an old guy, but [Silicon Valley] ain't what it used to be. I, for one, don't think this is the best place in the world to start a company.

WSJ: What needs to change in Silicon Valley to foster job creation?

Mr. McNealy: It's not the Valley. It's the overhead and the overhang, the clouds brought in by Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the regulations, the deficit and the misallocation of resources. It's all of those things. Obviously, I'm a believer in the private sector and in personal responsibility.

The biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the top.

WSJ: Are there any unconventional indicators that you watch to judge the health of the local economy?

Mr. McNealy: It's not very scientific, but my boys all play a pretty expensive, but middle-class sport: ice hockey. I see very clearly that there are a lot more financial strains on the families of the hockey teams here in the Bay Area. Families vote not to go to the tournament in Colorado Springs or their kids vote not to do the highest level of hockey because it's too expensive. Or they drop out of hockey altogether. It's significantly worse than it was a couple years ago.

The journal pointed out social networking and green jobs. However, McNealy dismissed both, and rightfully so. Social networking may make a few venture capitalists rich but it certainly will not be a big source of jobs. McNealy didn't say it, but even most "green jobs" have moved to Asia.

Besides, if it takes government subsidies (and most green jobs do), it isn't worth doing. It's time for smaller government, not more of it.

It was interesting to see McNealy say "the biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the top."

That is undoubtedly true but it was somewhat surprising to see given that Silicon Valley itself is not heavily unionized. The union effects, however, are both far-reaching and very damaging. I am happy to see McNealy point that out.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Seth's Blog : Familiarity breeds respect

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Familiarity breeds respect

It's nice to sign a letter, "sincerely yours," but far more powerful, I think, to sign it, "with respect." It says something compelling about the recipient, something earned.

I realized the other day that I'd been working with the trio of Megan, Corey and Gil at Squidoo for five years, since we founded the company. And that I've been with Anne, my trusted bookkeeper, for more than ten years, David at GTN for almost as long, and Lisa, my agent, for more than seventeen. In an amazing bit of time travel, I've been doing projects with my friend Red for more than thirty.

Over time, you don't just come to trust valued colleagues like these, they also earn respect. Once you understand someone's sensibilities and goals, it's natural to see the world through their eyes and to embrace their motives and tactics. Once you've seen their work under pressure and in quieter moments, you get a sense for what they believe in. In a world of quick projects and short engagements, this sort of relationship is priceless.

It's easier than ever to start relationships that can turn into ones like these. Just as hard as its ever been to make them last.

• Email to a friend •

•

luni, 14 februarie 2011

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

1) Use of a Dedicated Landing Page for Big Affiliates

2) Make Sure Affiliates Link to the Correct Page

3) Help your Affiliates Make Their Content More Valuable (and get links!)

4) Add More Value to Widgets and Iframes That Affiliates Use

Seth's Blog : An acre of attitudes

An acre of attitudes

More Recent Articles

White House White Board: The President's Budget

Seth's Blog : Treating best customers better

Treating best customers better

More Recent Articles

duminică, 13 februarie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Seth's Blog : Familiarity breeds respect

Familiarity breeds respect

More Recent Articles

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

luni, 14 februarie 2011

1) Use of a Dedicated Landing Page for Big Affiliates

2) Make Sure Affiliates Link to the Correct Page

3) Help your Affiliates Make Their Content More Valuable (and get links!)

4) Add More Value to Widgets and Iframes That Affiliates Use

More Recent Articles

More Recent Articles

duminică, 13 februarie 2011

More Recent Articles

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

Subscribe to